


'Cause I keep digging myself down deeper I won't stop till I get where you are

by cutebutpsyco



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Divergence - Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Canon Divergence - Post-Doctor Strange, M/M, Mentions of Nightmares, Mutual Pining, Post Captain America: Civil War, Post Doctor Strange - Freeform, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Stephen & Natasha friendship, Stephen Strange has PTSD, Stephen Strange is his salty self, Stephen and Tony know each other since a long time, Tony Stark has PTSD, but not character bashing either, not team Cap friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:16:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24490420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutebutpsyco/pseuds/cutebutpsyco
Summary: Stephen knew he couldn’t ignore the call, and maybe, it was a good way to think about something else. So he answered. The person on the other line didn’t even let him the time to say anything before starting speaking: “I’m sending you the coordinates of a place where you’ll have to be. I have to go.”“Wait…” Was everything the Sorcerer was able to say before the line got cut short. He knew who called him, he would refer to them as an acquaintance if not a friend and he was sure that if they called him it was a matter of life and death. Not having further information, though, wasn’t comforting at all.
Relationships: Christine Palmer & Stephen Strange, Christine Palmer & Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov & Stephen Strange, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark, Stephen Strange & Wong, Tony Stark & Stephen Strange, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Kudos: 163





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank so much the anon who prompted me for this!  
> Here it is the first half of this fic. I'm currently working on the other half and I'll be able to post it in, I think, a couple of weeks top. In the meanwhile, I hope you'll enjoy these first chapters. 
> 
> The prompt was the following: _[...] this would be cool if you wanna write it: IronStrange, Team Tony post-CW salt. [...], do what makes you happy ! _so you already know what to expect from the fic. As in every other post-CW fics, I consider canon the fact that Natasha didn't betray Tony, because I'm deeply convinced that it's what they'll show us in the Black Widow movie (and because I love her so, so much.__
> 
> _  
> _This said, as always nothing belongs to me and this fic isn't beta-read. The title is from Graveyard by Halsey._  
>  _

There was something magnetic in the news opening, Stephen thought he started to notice it just now, but the monotone jingle came back easily to his mind, reminding him that he probably noticed that even before but was paying attention to it just now. He supposed it was the aim of whoever chose it. It brought people’s attention on the screen where the anchorman didn’t wait for more than a couple of seconds before starting to speak. 

It was something too perfect for being just casualty and the Sorcerer was sure that a lot of studies had been made to pick just the exact timing. That, anyway, wasn’t an explanation good enough to justify the fact that Strange was awake in front of a TV screen that was probably coming straight from the previous century in the middle of Kamar-Taj main room at four in the morning. 

Wong asked him if he needed anything after the third time the opening jingle resonated within the walls of the room. He shook his head and told the man that he was fine. He wasn’t, but lying about his health has always been easy for Stephen to the point when he couldn’t even tell lies and truths apart. The librarian didn’t seem so convinced of his answer, but maybe he knew it was better to leave the other man alone, maybe just supposed that Strange needed time alone. 

He couldn’t even close his eyes without the deep of infinite purple eyes to crept through the darkness of his mind and, for this reason, decided that staring into the void was better than trying to sleep. It didn’t work so well. The moment he started to look at the wall of Kamar-Taj it turned into Dormammu’s face. So he decided to watch the TV. 

It wasn’t like he was paying a lot of attention to what was happening on the screen, but the voice of the anchorman helped him to stay focused on the now and then, and that was enough, for the time being. Stephen wasn’t even trying to understand what he was witnessing, but it wasn’t really what mattered. For this reason, he almost jumped from the chair he was seated on when his phone started to buzz in his pocket. He almost forgot he had one, and the number which was flashing on the screen was one that he has seen just one time before. A person who never called if they didn’t need anything in return. 

Stephen knew he couldn’t ignore the call, and maybe, it was a good way to think about something else. So he answered. The person on the other line didn’t even let him the time to say anything before starting speaking: “I’m sending you the coordinates of a place where you’ll have to be. I have to go.”

“Wait…” Was everything the Sorcerer was able to say before the line got cut short. He knew who called him, he would refer to them as an acquaintance if not a friend and he was sure that if they called him it was a matter of life and death. Not having further information, though, wasn’t comforting at all. 

But, a part of him was grateful to the small numbers that shone on the screen of his phone a moment later. Because it meant that he had something to do, something different from staring at a TV screen.   
He wondered if he had to tell Wong or ask for somebody’s help, but he knew the person who called him well enough to understand that if they called him and wanted someone there too, they would have asked him who to bring. 

He closed his eyes, dreading for an instant the darkness that was waiting for him behind his eyelids and then felt the comforting weight of the Cloak on his shoulders. It was his more trustworthy friend in the fight he just stumbled upon, and he knew he was going to cherish it more and more. His trembling hand went on his Sling Ring and Stephen opened a portal in the middle of the room, scared of what he could have seen at the other side of the gateway. He knew that after what he fought hours prior, very likely nothing on this Earth could scare him, but that didn’t mean that he liked the jump into the void. 

What Stephen didn’t expect for, though, was to find himself in the cold. He was wearing his robes and the Cloak which was wrapping around him tight. Stephen had no idea why he was there and where he was at that moment, but all he could do was try to understand what was happening around him.   
He would like to call the person who gave him the location and ask them why he was needed in what seemed to be a bunker in the middle of nowhere, but his hands were getting more and more unresponsive with the passing of seconds and he was afraid of the moment where the cold would have gone to his brain. Been there, done that, didn’t like it even in the slightest and considering that he now mastered the art of portals, very much liked not to repeat the experience. 

He would have thought that it was a joke, coming from someone else, but he knew who called him, and they weren’t the kind of person to just have another one to go across the globe just to mock him. No, if they wanted him in that place, it meant that Stephen was needed. He looked around, trying to make out an image of anything, questioning if there was something familiar until he saw what looked like a computer in the middle of a room filled with six of what could only be described as hibernation cradles. 

That was concerning, but what really scared Stephen was the stillness of the place. Everything, around him, seemed to be dead and cold, as whatever - or better whoever - was kept inside of the cradles just walked out living a trail of ice and coldness all around them. He wasn’t a man to be easily scared, but after what he saw in the Dark Dimension, he started to think that the black corners of the bunker were becoming darker and darker and he just needed to run away from whatever weird game he had been trapped into. If only it wasn’t for the Cloak which, the moment Stephen saw the computer, all but dragged its master toward the opposite side of the building. 

And there Strange’s blood frozen in his veins. On the floor, there was the unmoving figure of a man he knew far too well and not only from People’s cover. Tony Stark, wearing his now destroyed Iron Man suit, his face too pale in the cold neon lights and with snow already piling up on the sides of his body, was lying on the floor, just under what seemed to be a possible escape way. 

_What am I supposed to do?_ Was everything he could think about. He now knew why he had been called on this, but the problem was that he couldn’t help in any way, not with his damaged and hurting hands. _Please, breathe._ He whispered, instead, mentally thanking the Cloak when a warm piece of red fabric wrapped around his wrist to allow him to search for a pulse. Weak and unsteady, but he found it, and when he felt he let out a breath he didn’t even know he was keeping. 

He needed to bring Stark away from there, wherever they were but just when he was starting to create the portal he realized that he couldn’t just go back to Kamar-Taj. He couldn’t expose the existence of his other or the place that gave him a second opportunity to Tony Stark. Not only because, despite his trust in the billionaire, he knew the Masters could be suspicious, but also because Tony was known for being reckless. And Stephen feared that he could let something slip out. No, he needed another place where to bring and help him. And the only other place Stephen knew and could go was in New York. 

“She’s gonna kill me,” He said, probably to the Cloak which left his shoulders to carry Iron Man’s weight. The simple movement, even if so fast, of the magical fabric left Stephen completely paralyzed by the cold for some instant to the point when the Sorcerer didn’t dare to think about how cold Tony would have been. He had no idea how long the other man had been in that bunker, or why he was there in the first place, but he was well aware that all these questions could wait. What he needed to do, now, was to bring him somewhere safe. 

Stephen knew he was a dead man the moment he found himself face to face with the door of a penthouse apartment in New York. He knew it, and yet he was ready to embrace his destiny. He went through death over and over again and what was waiting for him at the other side of the door sounded the most peaceful one of the various possibilities and realities he went through. Especially because he would have saved a life in the process of dying, maybe, hopefully. God, his sense of humour was getting worse and worse. Not that there was someone conscious enough to reprimand him on that. 

For half a second, the Sorcerer looked at the closed door as if it was the greatest of his enemies, and then knocked. “Christine?” He called, a moment later, and the door opened just what was necessary for his best friend to take in the situation. 

“Stephen?” Her hazel eyes went up and down his body, and all the colour left her face to the point that the doctor remembered just at that moment that he too didn’t look or feel so peachy as he was trying to look. It didn’t matter. One problem at the time and, right now, Tony was the most concerning one. “God, you ok?”

“Yes,” He said, knowing that his voice was betraying him and that she could see his lies all over his face. “I’ll be. I’m not passed out because of hypothermia and my chest hasn’t been smashed by vibranium, so I’ll be ok. He won’t, though.” 

He moved to the side as if revealing the Cloak and Tony behind him even if he knew she would have helped him no matter what. And while Stephen knew far too well it was firstly because of her oath and then because they were friends, he trusted Christine with his life and that wasn’t the kind of trust he gave easily. 

“What happened?” She asked. “And I got the hypothermia and vibranium part… I just need more context and… why didn’t you bring him to the hospital?”

“He’s Tony Stark,” He answered, and Christine’s raised eyebrow if not everything else let him know that she knew far too well who the person that the Cloak of Levitation was bringing inside her house was. “If he’d magically appear out of nowhere in the middle of Metro General ER people would start to make questions, questions for which I do not have the answers, and others which answers should stay hidden. I only trust you.”

Christine nodded, and Stephen had the vague suspicion that she knew at least the last part of what he’s said. “I don’t know what happened. I just got a call telling me to be in one place, I got there and I found him. I can’t help him.”

Christine was already moving around the home and Stephen was grateful for how professional she was being. He also knew she would have asked him all the details, but only once the emergency would have been solved. “Ok, I can’t see if you’re right about the crushed chest here, we will need x-rays, but I’m trying to solve one problem at time and hypothermia is the most concerning one. Can you get some blankets? I still keep them in the same wardrobe.”

“I think they have some x-ray scan at the Avengers Compound... “ Stephen said, more to himself, already on his way to Christine’s bedroom. 

“Stephen,” Her voice stopped him, she was trying to open the armour so that she could get Tony out of his snow-filled clothes and the view of his ex-girlfriend and best friend with half of an Iron Man gauntlet in his hand was frightening enough. “That phone call, who did call you?”

“A friend,” He answered and found himself surprised in realizing that yes, that person was, in a weird acception of the term, a friend. Of course, he didn’t expect Christine to be satisfied with such an answer. He rolled his eyes to the ceiling and really hoped for something to happen so that he could keep his secret, but he also knew that she was the only person he could speak with without having to pay attention to what he said. There was a reason why she was his best friend and he had trusted her with pretty much everything since he woke up in a hospital bed. “Natasha Romanoff.”


	2. Chapter 2

Stephen knew that for one of the most formidable and famous spies and Avengers in the world finding him shouldn’t have been difficult, considering that, back at the time, he wasn’t even hiding or cared about keeping his identity hidden to most of the people who might get in touch with him. He just didn’t really understand why a person like Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow herself, might want to look for him. Which was the exact same reason why he got taken aback when he saw her standing in his office at the Metro General. 

“Doctor Stephen Strange,” She said without even waiting for him to say anything. Stephen wasn’t a person who would have easily let someone else take control of a situation in which he was in an advanced position, but he also suspected that if she was the person inside the room, he had lost control of it a long time ago. “I think you already know who I am, which is convenient because we don’t have time to lose.”

“Sorry, Miss Romanoff,” He tried to, just for her to level him with bright jade eyes. 

“As I said, we don’t have time. You are in danger There are people who are monitoring you in your house, in the streets, in this very hospital. I know you do not believe in conspiracy theories and the likes, and that’s not what I’m speaking about. The threat you are under is consistent and real or I wouldn’t be there to warn you about.”

“For being someone who claims we don’t have time, you are speaking a lot, Miss Romanoff,” Stephen couldn’t help himself. “I’m starting to think you just love the sound of your voice.” 

She rolled her eyes to the ceiling, but the smallest of smirks crept through her cold façade and Stephen considered that a win. She seemed to have something to say back at him, but a moment later she closed her mouth once again and when she spoke again there was a sort of playfulness in her voice: “Call me Natasha. I just need to make you understand why I am here and why what I’m going to tell you shouldn’t leave this room. You might have heard of the Hydra infiltration into the high spheres of SHIELD,” She waited for Stephen to nod. He wished he didn't know, but in the last couple of days, it was the only thing his colleagues have spoken about. Stephen didn’t care that much and already thought that the government was rotten enough, SHIELD, Hydra or whatever. “We are not releasing this information to the public, but Hydra had a list of potential threats. You are on that list.” 

Stephen liked to consider himself a sceptic and was really fast to point out the possible downfall of a lot of ideas and theories that he heard about even when simply passing by, but he couldn’t even decide where to start when it came down to what the Black Widow just told him. So he decided that asking all the questions at once was a good way to receive at least a little piece of information. “So, you are telling me that the terrorist organization with connection with German Nazists took over the greatest intelligence agency on American soil and stilled a list of potential threats to their supposed domain. And the US Government decided that it was the smartest move to keep that list secret. And I, a neurosurgeon, am on that list for what…? Operating on politicians?” The smirk was back on Natasha’s lips. 

“Zola’s algorithm monitors potential threats. I don’t know what it means, Doctor, but your name was between the names of people who have nothing to do with your normality at the hospital. And about the decision of keeping the list secret, it’s not up to either me, the SHIELD director or the US government.”

“Why are you here, Natasha?” He asked, then. He could understand, not really, but he could pretend to, why someone would want to keep him under surveillance (probably because of his brain, maybe his research was getting closer to some result someone didn’t want he reached), and he certainly could get the reason why they didn’t release the names on that list to the public, but still, he should have been kept at the obscure of the existence of the list itself. Why was the Black Widow in his office?

“Because I read that list over and over again. As I told you, there are a lot of names on it, the ones you can think about, my name, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Clint… Some SHIELD agents as well, and some others who are just guys next door,” Stephen couldn’t really understand where she was going with that conversation but decided to let the woman speak, hoping that would have provided some answer. “You are different, though. For once, you are the only doctor on the list, hospital doctor, I’d say, there are quite a few PhDs on the list. And you know another person on the list.”

“Tony,” It was a whisper, but he knew she heard it. 

“I thought your… friendship was the reason why your name was there, but I’m not sure yet and I can’t speak to him about this so, Doctor, you asked me why am I here. The answer is plain and simple.”

“You want me to tell Tony about the list,” He said because it was the only explanation he could get from her words. What shocked him was that she moved her head in no. 

“Tony doesn’t need to know, knowing would put him in danger. I’m returning a favour he did to me a couple of years ago,” She smiled a sad smile and then handed him a mobile phone. It was a brand new StarkPhone. “There are two mobile numbers on that phone, one is mine, the other is Steve Rogers’s. You need something, you call either of us. We might have released a lot of information to the world, but we don’t know if the list got in the hands of other sleeping Hydra cells.”

She moved closer to the door, walking past the surprised figure of Stephen still trying to put together all the pieces. “And Doctor, I can see why you two are so close.” 

**

“What do you mean Natasha Romanoff?” Christine was staring at him wide-eyed, still moving around Tony’s unconscious body. They both knew there wasn’t a lot they could do until Stark’s body temperature went back to being normal and Stephen wasn’t even sure about what he could do once that would have happened. He and Tony used to be close, but after his first conversation with the Russian spy, he started to take his distance from the billionaire fooling himself that it was to protect the man. 

He knew Tony looked for him after his incident, but being found was the last thing he’d wanted back in the time and then when he discovered about Kamar-Taj he knew he couldn’t expose the Sorcerers to the world and never reached back for Stark. He had no idea of what he could say to the man, or how he could explain what happened in the last couple of years. He didn't even know if he was able to enter the Compound. But he needed to do that much, he needed to be sure that Tony wasn’t injured. 

He looked at Christine and nodded almost imperceptibly. “Yes,” He said after a short nod of his head. “I met her some years ago.”

“Years…?” he could see what Christine was going to ask him as if her thoughts were taking the shape of words out of her brain but decided to let her continue. “You weren’t even in this fucking crazy world, some years ago.”

Stephen nodded, he knew that he couldn’t keep secrets to Christine. She not only was his best friend, but she also knew how to obtain the information she needed and this was the reason why she was such a great ER doctor or wasted as an ER doctor. Honestly, Stephen was well aware that every wing of every hospital in the world would have been extremely lucky to have Dr Christine Palmer to work for them. “Yeah, I know… It’s complicated. I’ll tell you, but not now.”

And the woman seemed to agree on the last bit. “Yes, we need to be sure about the extent of Stark’s injuries. Do you have any idea of how to bring him to the Compound?”

Stephen nodded once again, and he was sure that Christine was going to regret the answer he had to provide her. Her sceptical look at the glowing form of the portal proved Strange that his intuition was right. “It’s faster, and also the only way I know. How is he doing?”

“His body temperature is better, he should regain consciousness in some instants if he passed out because of the cold,” She crossed the portal and, a moment later, the Cloak flew Tony thought it, leaving Stephen alone just for a moment before he too was on the other side in the busy entrance of the Avengers Compound, a place which was filled with journalists and it took Stephen less than a second for him to open another portal and drag both Christine and Tony’s form inside of the mirror dimension. “What happened?”

“I wish I knew,” He was used to Nat’s half information, she never gave straight information, keeping for herself more than she said and despite all the years he had known her, he still couldn’t understand which was the reason behind it. But she usually gave him even the smallest piece of information. Now, all he got was the location of that bunker in Siberia. “We need to find one of the Avengers who can bring us to the infirmary.”

“Stephen,” This time, he didn’t miss the worry in Christine's voice. “The Avengers are gone... “

“What…?!” And then he realized. The things he had seen but at which he didn’t pay attention to. He said it, he suspected it. He saw the shield and the metal arm. He couldn’t tell what happened in the bunker, but he knew whose fault it was. He shook his head and closed his eyes, searching for the best thing to say at the bottom of his brain. He couldn’t find anything, so just he did what he could: he nodded and stepped in the first hallway he could find. “This must be the reason why all these journalists are here”

“What do you want to do?” 

“Why don’t you start with telling me who…?” Another voice startled both Christine and Stephen even if the Sorcerer suspected it was for two different reasons. He knew that voice had heard it over and over again in so many galas and parties that he’d lost count. He heard it also on some mornings after extremely blurred nights. And he was sure he had lost the opportunity to hear that voice again the moment he crashed his car. It was weaker and more shaking than he remembered, but he could totally understand why, and yet it brought him back to a moment when there was no Kamar-Taj, no Dormammu and not shaking hands. “Stephen?”


	3. Chapter 3

It was only a couple of days later that Tony was able to get out of his bed in the med bay of the Avengers Compound. Christine repeated over and over again that he should rest more, but Tony didn’t like to just lay and do nothing, and once Stephen checked him over and declared that all they could do has been already done, Stark got his ass on a wheelchair and started to move around the Compound as if nothing really happened and he didn’t need oxygen until Dr Cho would have created a new ribcage for him. 

By that time, Stephen had already created a semi-permanent portal into the Avengers main room. Tony didn’t like the idea of magic inside of his house, but what he possibly didn’t like even more was the idea of being alone in an empty and big building. 

“So, will you tell me how you became Merlin?” He was lying on the sofa, a StarkPad in front of his eyes while Stephen moved around looking for the armchair with the best illumination to keep reading his book without turning the lights on. 

“Will you tell me what really happened in Siberia?” he asked back and regretted it a moment later. He didn’t look at his own reflection immediately after having fought against Dormammu, but the absolute terror that was crawling up Tony’s face was probably what he would have seen if he did. But just like Stephen, Tony was always good in hiding his feelings and emotions behind a blank expression. 

“You first,” was everything he said. “We were having fun, and you disappeared. I read about your incident but when I came looking for you… your friend, Christine, told me she had no idea where you were gone.”

“I’m sorry,” Stephen just looked at him, a bit overwhelmed by knowing that Tony looked for him. He had no idea, the last few months of his life had been a mess and he was sure that nobody cared, nobody would have given a damn fuck about where he was. He thought that everyone gave up just like he did. After the Ancient One died, he discovered that Christine, despite everything, was still there for him, and now Tony too. A sad smile found its way on the Sorcerer’s lips and he decided not to fight it back. “Yeah, we had a lot of fun.”

“You know, you should have come to me,” Tony had his eyes closed, head slightly bent over and what seemed to be the ghost of an expression twisted in pain on his features. “If I can have people recreate my rib cage, I could have done hands in my sleep.”

Coming from everyone else, Stephen would have taken it as an insult, but he knew Tony. He not only could have done that, but he was the only person Stephen would have let to do that much. 

“I couldn’t,” He decided to be honest with him. “I wasn’t… I’m not… the person you’ve known so many years ago. I couldn’t just come to your door and ask for your help. I had nothing to offer you. I spent all my money in a useless attempt to have my hands back and when I found out about Kamar-Taj. It was the last change, the end of the rope.”

“Kamar… what?” It was funny, but not surprising at all, that the thing which surprised Stark the most was the name of the place. Stephen knew Tony could understand what he wasn’t saying, that was the entire point of their friendship and whatever came with it, they could understand each other better than everyone else. Even if Stephen never approved of the Avengers’ methods. He was one of the few people who were left to take care of the downfall of heroes sparring with aliens, he was one of the few who saw what really was at stake every time the Iron Man suit bolted into the sky and thunders took the shape of a man. But they understood each other, and that was the reason why they were friends and the reason why Stephen could bet everything he had that Tony would have been curious about the Nepali temple.   
Because it was something he had never heard before. 

“I’m not sure I can tell you,” He said, probably knowing that Tony had already asked Friday to look for the place. Stephen was sure that there were any laws against people finding out about the Mystic Arts on their own. 

“I could have bet on it,” Tony answered, instead, and the soft smile that lighted his whiskey brown eyes was back on the man’s face. For one second, Stephen found himself marvelling once again with the billionaire’s beauty. They had this thing going for years, since the first moment they knew each other and yet Stephen was surprised every time he saw the other man. Tony Stark was charming, it was something even walls could tell, but Stephen wasn’t attracted by his PR persona. Tony once told him that was the reason why they got along so well, they both despised pretending to be someone else when they were at charity events and galas. 

That was one of their first conversations, the first time Stark tried to offer Stephen a job at Stark Med. A job that the neurosurgeon had promptly rejected over and over again, every time with an excuse which was more stupid and silly than the previous one. There was a point where he thought that if Tony kept insisting, he would have accepted just to shut the other up, but they both knew it was a blatant lie. Working together meant seeing under the veil, and both of them were scared of what the other could really think. But now, Stephen wondered if it was really the worst that could happen. He wouldn’t mind letting Tony see. Maybe because he was a different man, he couldn’t tell. “A penny for your thoughts.”

Stark’s voice brought him back to the now and then and Stephen realized he was staring at the void in front of him. “I should have accepted that offer back in the day.”

“On this, we agree,” No need to say which offer he was thinking about. “But, you know, the moment I’ll be fixed, I’ll start to work on the suit over again, I already have a couple of ideas in mind, and you have this… funny attire, we can still work together.”

Stephen rolled his eyes to the ceiling, more out of habit than for a real reason to do so. “They’re probably gonna kick my butt out because I showed you magic, so, yeah, you can take me in as a stray cat.” 

Tony’s laugh was something he missed and wasn’t embarrassed in admitting it. Not that he was going to say it out loud either, but still. “Their loss.”

Stephen smiled back at him. “You’re probably very right, Stark, but considering that I currently have 20 dollars at my name, I’d better go back, at least to have my paycheck.”

Tony’s eyes were filled with tears caused by his laughing and Stephen knew that was the moment he was fucked. And Stephen knew that it was possibly the worst moment to acknowledge that. He smiled, anyways, having Stark to promise him that he would have called before the implant surgery and, for the first time in three days, he walked outside of the Compound. 

**

He knew he could just open a portal to go back to the Sanctum, but the moment the warm, sunny air of the summer end greeted his body once he walked out of the Avengers Compound had him prefer to walk to the place which has become his home. A part of him suggested that part of that decision was the dread of being scared of where the portal could have been opened. 

But he tried not to think about it. Tried to ignore the fact that only the worry about Tony’s health was what pushed back the image of Dormammu’s empty eyes. He shook his head and started to walk down the road. It was a nice day and him kind of missed walking the streets of New York even if he didn’t remember the last time he did that much. Maybe it was when he first moved when he was fresh out of university and looking for a job and a name to make in the Big Apple. 

And yet, it was something extremely relaxing, even the sound of his steps on the sidewalk was something soothing, a balm for his mind which turned rapidly into whiskey brown doe eyes and a soft smile which lit them up. He shook his head. He couldn’t indulge in that kind of thought, it was fair, not for him and, most importantly, not for Tony. He deserved so much better, they had their fun, together, but then Stephen disappeared and the fact that Tony looked for him was… Not upsetting, but it made him feel like shit. Because Stephen wasn’t sure he would have done the same. 

He met Tony Stark after Afghanistan, even if he was quite sure their paths crossed at some point even before that event, so he couldn’t tell what he would have done back in 2008, but he was half sure he would have ignored the other man’s disappearance. Not because he didn’t care about him, but because this was their relationship. They were friends, sometimes with benefits and other times just plain friends, but they weren’t that close either. Or maybe that was the lie Strange kept repeating himself to hide the fact that he underestimated what Stark thought of him. He couldn’t tell, but he knew he wasn’t in any position to think about a new relationship and neither was Tony, not after what he saw in the Siberian bunker. 

Thinking about that was still upsetting, and while he would have never crossed the line, he needed to know and knew that Tony wasn’t intending to let him. So he did the only thing he could do. He called Natasha. 

“Is Tony ok?” The woman was whispering, voice coincided, and Stephen could hear different noises coming from the other side of the line. If he focused long enough on only one of those, he could have heard the interphone announcing a train leaving for Moscow in a metallic Hungarian voice, but he was more concerned about the spy’s question. 

“Of course he is, and not thanks to Rogers,” He could hear the venom in his voice. He might be in the dark about what happened in that frozen facility, but he saw the shield slammed against Tony’s chest and he knew at whom that shield belonged. “Why did you call me?”

He didn’t want to know the story from someone else. He owned Tony that much. “Because you are the best doctor I know, with or without your hands. And you care about him.”

“You knew about the Captain, didn’t you?” The fact that she ignored his first sentence was enough of an answer, but he needed to hear it from her. What he didn’t expect, though, was her sigh. 

“I suspected Tony might need medical help because he went to meet two super soldiers with whom he wasn’t on the best terms with,” She paused for a second and, this time, Stephen could hear someone speaking Hungarian. He could understand some words in that language, but whoever spoke did it too fast for him to hear more than “run”. At the same time, he heard Natasha cursing in Russian. “Stephen, I can’t speak now, I’ll call you ASAP. I have no idea of what happened in Siberia.”

Before the line went down, he could hear a gun shooting and then anything else.


	4. Chapter 4

“Do you have anything to do?” That was the first message Stephen saw while he was having breakfast, around a week later. He and Tony kept texting since the day he left the Compound to take care of the stuff in Kamar-Taj and help with the reorganization of the order. It was nice, and it was like having back something from his previous life. Something he missed and he thought to be gone forever. 

Christine joked about him behaving like a teenager, but Stephen pretended not to hear her most of the time and focused even more on his studies and on being as far as possible from New York. The last thing he needed was to see Rogers’s face plastered all over Times Square along with his pal Bucky Barnes. 

Eventually, some of what happened in Siberia leaked its way through the media and even reached Kamar-Taj. That was how Strange found out that the majority of the youngest apprentices were Iron Man’s fans. Which Wong found extremely funny and Stephen just thought was even more bothersome. Especially when Wong let slip the fact that Master Strange was a close friend of the billionaire. Stephen was really bad with people but somehow discovered a perverse pleasure in shit-talking a certain Captain when with his fellow Sorcerers. Not very mature, but he never pretended to be mature. 

So, yeah, he maybe was having a little too much fun in hearing Illyana, one of the most promising young Sorceresses in the entire temple of Kama-Taj, telling him about the PSA videos someone thought was a good idea to have Captain Steve Rogers to do. 

“I hope they recorded those videos before the entire Civil War mess,” Vihaan, a boy around nineteen, said. From what Stephen understood of him from one of the other Sorcerers’ gossip, he was a Kamar-Tj born informatic genius, two weird things in one, considering that there wasn’t a high number of children born within the walls of the temple and very few between its inhabitants could even make Siri work. Stephen was, surprisingly, in the group of people who could do it, and was also sure that if he were to introduce Tony to any of them, that person would have been Vihaan. “Or that would just prove that the American government is dumb at best or hypocrite at worst. Not that I would be surprised.”

Stephen had to admit that the boy had a point of two and was going to say that much if only if the phone would have stayed silent. Instead, the screen lit showing the incoming text. And considering that the only person who texted him was Tony, the small assemble of young Sorcerers moved almost imperceptibly trying to read what was written on the screen. 

“Siri,” Illyana said. She was closer to Stephen than everyone else and for this reason, she read exactly the content of the text. “New text message to Stark, Anthony…”

He levelled her with a glance and left the table, be sure that he took his phone with him. Of course, he was going to answer Tony, he just didn’t like the idea of the kids getting their nose into his messy life. And he was too proud to let a cheap AI write his text. “I can free myself, what do you need?” 

The answer in a beat of the eyes. “I’ll get my new ribcage implanted today,” only Tony Stark could add a smiling emoji to such a message. “Rhodey will be there, and so Dr Cho and probably Christine, so if you can’t we already have too many degrees in one room, but if you’d like to, I still have an MD and PhD space reserved.”

Stephen smiled, even if he was doing everything in his power to keep a straight expression on his face. The last thing he wished for was for other Sorcerers to start asking questions, but he also was aware that they would either way. So yeah, he could tell the Council that the New York Sanctum still needed to be fixed -- which wasn’t a lie at all -- and maybe Wong the truth, so that the librarian could cover up for him. Ok, this didn’t sound at all like something a high schooler would do, not at all. 

“I’ll be there,” He said, closing the call a moment later. A part of him knew that he was doing that because he wanted to be by Tony’s side, but the other part, the one which never stopped to be a doctor, was curious to meet Dr Helen Cho and to witness from the frontline such a wonderful and innovative procedure. He didn’t know which part of him was prevailing over the other, but all he could think about, even in that frangent of time, was the sight he had been welcomed with once he arrived in Siberia. 

Stephen had never been a fan of superheroes, and while Tony knew and respected that much, it was one of the things they argued the most even before Strange’s incident. They were reckless, they dove into the new fight without caring about the destruction they caused. Sokovia and Lagos have been the biggest show to the world, but Stephen still had nightmares about the battle of New York and it didn’t matter that Tony and Tony alone paid for the reconstruction of the buildings they destroyed. 

That didn’t help him to warm up for the other heroes, just like it didn't help his friendship with Natasha. And while he could understand why she did what she did most of the time, he couldn’t see the same justification for the others. Especially one Steve Rogers. 

He shook his head trying to push away the images which were threatening to surface once more. The video which leaked to the press was from Tony’s helmet, from what the Sorcerer could tell, and just thinking about the Captain brought back in Strange’s mind the angry cerulean eyes shining with something he couldn’t name just one moment before slamming his shield into Tony’s chest. Those eyes, during the nights, became purple pits of pure horrors and Rogers’s face morphed into Dormammu’s one. 

Stephen woke up more than one morning screaming and trying to push away the heavy body of the super-soldier only to find his chest wound inflicted by Dormammu himself burning and his hands shaking painfully. That was the reason why he refused to sleep at the Compound when Tony offered him that much. He couldn’t allow the billionaire to know. It was stupid, it was childish, perhaps, but it was what was keeping Stephen from falling apart in front of one of the few people he could still call a friend. 

He reached the library where he was hoping to find Wong just to find another familiar presence along with the Sorcerer. And the point was, there was something extremely weird in seeing Christine Palmer in the middle of a magical temple in Nepal even more because she was wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. 

“Oh, Stephen,” Wong’s voice sounded casual, even more than usually so. As if he was trying to hide something and was playing extra confident so that Stephen wouldn’t have suspected anything. Or, well, that was what he would have told of everyone else. With Wong, he could never tell. “Christine was telling me about Stark’s surgery. I suppose you’ll want to go to. I’ll cover you, but you’ve gonna bring one of those mean sandwiches... “

“Yes, gotcha,” Stephen smiled. The other man could brag for hours about detachment from material goods, but there were few things which would have brought him to forget about every one of the Ancient One’s notions. Stephen, somehow, found himself on that list after his little show with the Time Stone and while he couldn’t still understand the other Sorcerer, was glad to be on his good side and would have done everything to stay on that side. 

“And Stephen,” He stopped a moment before wearing his sling ring and got out of the place. “Can you please tell your little fan club to stop throwing things at the TV every time the Captain is on it? It was funny, at first, but now it’s even more annoying than his face.” 

Christine laughed, but the interrogative light in her eyes was shining again when Wong mentioned Stephen's fan club and he knew he couldn’t get away with the third-degree interrogation. Something told him the librarian did it on purpose. He rolled his eyes and opened the portal to the Compound throwing a questioning glance to his best friend. 

“What were you doing in Kamar-Taj?” He asked once they both crossed the portal and started to look for the surgery room. The Sorcerer suspected it wasn’t that far away from the infirmary. 

“Wong needed to meet me. We do it twice per month and we complain about our idiot common friend,” Stephen only suspected she was joking, but he knew the both of them, and it was dangerously close to a possibility for him to like it. “Today's argument was his crush for a famous billionaire.” 

And the Cloak had the audacity to slap his face. Stephen rolled his eyes to the ceiling and pretended to ignore the entire exchange. “Even if, I would never push a relationship on either of us, and I think we have more concerning matters to focus on.”

“I’m just saying: do not throw away the possibility while waiting for a better moment, ok? We care about you.” 

Strange smiled and, for the first time in a long, long time, he felt a warming bubble to form in his chest. He couldn’t give a name to the feeling but was well aware that it wasn’t something which happened frequently, not to him, at least. Christine should have noticed that because she patted him on his shoulder and smiled softly at him before James Rhodes walked on them.

“You should be Dr Strange and Palmer, right?” The Colonel asked, a tense smile on his lips while he extended one of his hands from the wheelchair he was seated on. “Tones told me you would come. Dr Cho asked for your assistance, Dr Palmer.” 

And that was the moment when, despite everything, Stephen’s heart sunk a bit while he tried to crack his most convincing smile and watched his best friend walking down the hallway Rhodes indicated to her a moment before. He knew he could and should have been the person Dr Helen Cho asked for. He knew what working for her meant for every doctor, even more so in that situation, when she was supposed to work on such an innovative procedure on the one Tony Stark. But he drove his great possibility down a cliff and he had nobody to blame for that. 

And he hated himself even more because this wasn’t about fame and glory, that was about the life of a man he really cared about and all he was doing was being angry at himself, Christine and Helen Cho for what happened to him. He shook his head and perfectly knew what Rhodes was thinking about, even when on the man’s hand wrapped around his arm. 

“Are you ok, Dr Strange?” The other asked. Stephen nodded, but he knew he couldn’t stay at the Compound. He said something, an empty excuse which meant nothing and then walked outside.


	5. Chapter 5

Stephen didn’t dare go further than the Avengers Compound ground yard. He couldn’t stay in the operation room, but he also couldn’t leave Tony alone in such a difficult situation. He already proved himself for the person he was. Not wanting to accept the fact that someone else could help, not wanting to accept the fact that he was of no help in a situation where he had been the best a few years before. 

And yet, the idea of leaving was something he couldn’t even consider. He couldn’t just walk away, he couldn’t pretend he didn’t know what Tony was going through. Because he knew that it would have disappointed the genius, and there was the only thing Stephen would have never forgiven himself. So he just stayed outside the Compound, trying to both search in his mind for a spell which would have allowed him to see what was going on and, at the same time, fight against the desire to spy on Dr Cho’s work. 

“Sir is recovering,” A robotic voice caught Strange by surprise and, for only one second, he thought it belonged to Friday but he got to know better the AI’s voice for a long time he spent with Tony at the Compound after he brought him back in New York and the Time Stone around his neck was almost vibrating as if suggesting Stephen that there was something weird in the newcomer. “He is asleep and Dr Palmer asked me to deliver you a message, Dr Strange.” 

Only when the voice named Christine, Stephen decided to acknowledge it, turning to look at its source just to step back a moment later: in front of him there was an android with silverish-red skin, but that wasn’t what got Stephen’s full attention as it wasn’t the yellow cape which, just like the Cloak on his shoulders, was moving to a non-existent wind. It was the orange stone in the android’s forehead. 

“Sorry, is that…?” He asked, forgetting in a beat of the eyes about all his manners. 

“The Mind Stone,” The android replied, his black eyes going straight to the Eye of Agamotto. “It’s a sibling of the one you are bringing around your neck, Doctor.”

“Who are you?” And yes, maybe Stephen decided he didn’t want to mix himself with superheroes and the likes after New York, shame on him for not knowing everyone on the roaster, but a new person popped out every other day and he had more interesting things to do back in the day than keeping track on whatever enhanced being in the world. From what he learned about the so-called Civil War, the US Government, apparently, didn’t. 

“I am Vision,” There was a little annoyance in the Vision’s voice, a feeling Stephen couldn’t tell where it came from. “If you want to accompany me inside, that would be a better place where to continue this conversation. The ones we are guarding are the very foundations of our world and reality, I don’t like to discuss their nature in the open.”

Yeah, right. That Vision was a wise robot-guy, Strange decided, even if a discussion about the Infinity Stones wasn’t his priority at that moment. “Which was the message? You told me Christine asked to tell me something.”

Vision nodded while walking down the hallway which led to the med bay. “Yes, Dr Palmer wanted to let you know that Boss was disappointed you weren’t in the operation theatre, but happy that you were watching over him.”

“Great,” Stephen knew exactly why she wanted that message to be delivered. She didn’t want him to feel like shit, that would have been too easy. She was telling him that he mattered for Tony, that the billionaire cared about him. And that Stephen should have got his fucking life together. He knew there wasn’t another person like Christine Palmer, nobody else would have understood him as she did. And that was the main problem. “Is Tony awake?” He needed to know, he needed to know how much disappointed the man he started to fall for would have been knowing he wasn’t there, knowing Stephen ran away. He knew he couldn’t get away with that, Christine and Rhodes would have made sure of that much. 

“Not yet, Dr Cho said he’ll be out for a couple of hours still,” The android answered, before phasing through a closed door. Stephen suspected that was Stark’s room and looked at the ceiling as if asking for Friday’s permission. The door swung open without even cutting him in half so he suspected at least the AI was on his corner. 

**

James Rhodes, who repeated a lot of times to Stephen to just call him Rhodey, was the first to leave, after half an hour he got a call from General Ross and he left the room, coming back something like ten minutes after and excusing himself. Stephen wanted to ask what they spoke about before shortly after the Colonel returned into the room he received a text message from Natasha telling him not to trust Ross. But Strange also knew that his friendship with the Russian spy was supposed to be a secret so he just nodded. 

Around twenty minutes later after Rhodey left, Christine had to go to the hospital so Stephen opened a portal for her with the promise to keep her updated about Stark’s health. Dr Cho asked Stephen for a portal as well for her next conference in Berlin as soon as Friday finished to export all the data collected during Tony’s operation into her phone and jut when Tony’ heartbeat started to get less rhythmic indicating that the man was waking up, Vision said that he was hungry and disappeared into the floor, leaving Stephen alone with the other man. 

Stephen could disappear, he could open a portal to the Sanctum and bury himself inside the library until he didn’t have any new book to read That would have taken all Stark’s life-span and saved him from that moment, but he knew far too well what meant to wake up in a hospital bed to an empty room, even when said hospital bed was in your own enormous house. So he decided not to be a coward and stay. 

“You look like shit,” These were Tony’s first words, big and tired whiskey eyes fixed on Stephen’s face who couldn’t help but smile

“You should see yourself now,” He couldn’t help but answer, receiving a soft laugh back. A laugh that had Strange on his knees and by the bed before he couldn’t even register it. “Hey, slow down, don’t…”

“It’s been ages since I laughed without my chest hurting everywhere, Steph,” A whisper, more relief and defeat streaming through Stark’s words while he was doing everything to look everywhere but where the Sorcerer was. Stephen wished he had better bedside manners. He never really cared, never was in the position to actually take care of the patient after the surgery. He left that part of his job to pretty much everyone else, including but not limited to nurses, Christine and occasionally Nick West himself. Let the other take the merit in front of the family when Stephen really knew where it laid. But now it was different. Not only because now he could understand what it meant for the families, but because now it was Tony the person he was speaking with. So he did what he did better but for fucking up. 

“So was this the reason why you never laughed at my jokes, even if they are totally amazing?” 

Tony bent his head by one side, shining eyes fixed on him, and leaned closer, until their lips almost brushed. “Now you can push against my chest if you want to stop me.” 

Stephen’s brain short-circuited until he felt soft lips pushing against his and only then he let his shaking hands rest on Tony’s shoulders, pushing him back just slightly, what was enough for him to speak while not being forced to look into Stark’s eyes. “There’s nothing I want to do more than kissing you, but I want it to be real and not because… You are happy and I’m the closest person around.”

“It is real, Stephen I…” Tony sounded heartbroken and Stephen hated himself even more because it was because of him. He thought Stephen had been by his side while he was running away, he believed Strange to be a better person than he actually was. “It’s always been real for me. I know… I know how we started, I know you don’t do relationships, but I was stupid enough to believe I could be your exception. And then you disappeared, and I was afraid. - Stephen looked at him, Tony wasn’t speaking about the last couple of days, he, differently from Strange, didn’t start to develop feelings for him since they both met again in New York. Tony was speaking about before. At least before his incident, maybe even prior to that moment. And Stephen had been stupid and blind enough to not even realize that much. Maybe it was for the better. If the old Stephen would have noticed, he’d probably pushed Tony away. Because on one thing more than the others, Stark was right: old Stephen didn’t do relationships. - When Christine told me what happened. You know, I should have been the one to give you the prize. Cancelled the day before. I went to MIT and things started to go down pretty bad with the Avengers so I cancelled. Send someone from Stark Med. I wanted to ask you to come with me.”

“You… What…?” Stephen didn’t know what to say, for once, he had no idea of which words he was looking for. So he closed his eyes and nodded. “If you have to push me back, just know my hands hurt very much if you apply pressure to them, so if you want to punish me for having been an asshole, and still being one and…”

“You either kiss me or I’ll show you how much an asshole I can be,” Tony cut him short and Stephen knew they weren’t in the right place for any of that, but he couldn’t deny the man that much. There would have been time for speaking and confronting, later. He closed his eyes and leaned into the kiss. It wasn’t the first time they kissed, but for once, it tasted real.


	6. Chapter 6

Stephen couldn’t believe what his life had turned into. After a week and two days from Tony’s surgery, he started to move from Kamar-Taj into the New York Sanctum where he was going to live permanently as Master of the Sanctum, whatever that meant. 

Being busy with that, he couldn’t speak with Tony about what happened and the man’s radio silence wasn’t promising at all. Ok. Strange had been the jerk one who pretty much ran away when the other man asked him to stay for the night but he was well aware that he couldn’t and, for once, it wasn’t only because of his nightmares. He knew how things would have ended between them. How they always did back in the day. 

They’d fuck, share half-whispered secrets and then didn’t meet until the next occasion when they’d do it all over again. Stephen wasn’t up for that any longer and not because he thought himself to be better than his past self, but because he couldn’t take off from his brain Stark’s face. So yeah, he did a jerk move, and he was supposed to be the first one to call Tony, once he’d settle into the New York Sanctum life. Or so he thought would have happened if his extremely difficult task of sorting his clothes into the wardrobe in a Cloak-approved fashion hadn’t been cut short by someone knocking on the door. 

Now, if the person was a Master from Kamar-Taj, they wouldn’t have needed to enter from the door, considering that there was a permanent portal on the second floor. And considering who the only other two people who might be looking for him were, he couldn’t help but decide that sorting clothes wasn’t how he wanted to spend the afternoon. Wong would have disapproved, but Wong wasn’t there to look at him. 

His good mood, though, was cut short only once he opened the front door, his eyes meeting a pair of jade greens that he wasn’t expecting at all. “Nat…?”

“I don’t have time,” She said, walking rapidly past Stephen and into the foyer of the Sanctum. “Stephen, you’re not gonna like it and I don’t have time to explain it properly…”

Yes, typical Natasha Romanoff’s behaviour. Luckily, he wasn’t a confused neurosurgeon and could actually understand what she was speaking about. So he moved closer, resting a hand against her shoulder and inviting the woman to slow down a bit. “The video from Siberia leaked so if this is what you want to explain to me, I already know. What I’m not gonna like?”

“I didn’t know…” Her voice sounded almost broken and Stephen could understand why. She let Rogers and Barnes escape, but she was Tony’s friend, she felt guilty for her decisions. Despite knowing what she did for a living, Stephen knew he could trust her. “I’m not with them and I really can’t tell you everything now, just know that Ross has pardons signed for the Rogues and they are going to come back to New York. The Defence will force Tony’s hand. The pardons say that the former Avengers have to live inside the Compound since a better location would be found. If they do not, leave the Compound without a permit or cause troubles, then it’s on Tony.”

“Ross’s trying to frame him. He knows they can’t stay put,” He said, while a weird idea was starting to take shape in his mind. “You said until they don’t find another place where to locate them? When will the pardons be effective?”

“Couple of months, maybe before. What are you thinking about?”

“I won’t have Rogers living with Tony after the video I saw,” He looked at her, trying to read what was hidden behind her eyes, but that was something that, it didn’t matter how powerful he became, he would have never been able to. A moment later, she looked over her shoulder, evidentially looking for a window. “Whoever is after you won’t find you until you are into the Sanctum.” 

She nodded, and pushed a hand against her eyes, as if shielding them from Stephen’s piercing glance. He couldn’t tell what she was trying to hide, and maybe he didn’t even want to know. “I shouldn’t have stormed here. I should speak with Tony, but I’m afraid he won’t understand…”

Stephen didn’t know how to answer that. Probably that was the reason why he didn’t tell the genius how he knew where he would have found him. Or better, he knew Tony would have eventually understood, but it was different. Yes, Stephen knew Natasha, but had no idea of the fact that she let Rogers and Barnes go, even if she realized her mistake shortly after. Even if she was the reason why he was still alive. 

“I’m sorry,” She continued. “This shouldn’t be on you.” 

“Yeah, but it is. I do care about Tony and we both know that he’d feel responsible to give the Rogues a home. And if Ross is going to push him he’ll accept more easily,” Stephen couldn’t help but let the venom in his voice hit her. She was proving to be more trustworthy than the other Avengers, but she was also the reason why Siberia happened in the first place and the most feral part of Stephen wanted to blame her for everything. Differently from others, though, he knew how to keep that part of himself under control. 

“I wish there was something I could do about this,” Somehow, Stephe believed her. “Take care of him.”

The Sorcerer just looked at her, incapable of thinking about some wit retort, for once just wordless in front of Natasha’s sentence. A moment later, she turned her back and walked out of the Sanctum. 

**

Stephen looked at the smirking billionaire in front of him. Stark framed him over lunch because he wanted to speak about some medical project of Stark Med and, honestly, Stephen really missed the idea of doing actually something in the medical field, so, for this reason, he couldn’t help but accept the other man’s proposal. Not that he would have refused it, but still, it wasn’t like someone had to know. 

Sure, he didn’t expect the man dressed as if he was headed to a gala, but it came with Tony Stark being himself and he just rolled his eyes at the ceiling when he realized that he was severely underdressed in his loose jeans and a t-shirt. Not that he couldn’t solve that with a movement of his hands, which he did, just to witness Tony’s surprise. 

“Ok, I’m sure I can explain this with science too,” He quipped. “What doesn’t have any explanation, though, is how you can be so hot while doing all this… fairy godmother stuff.”

Stephen laughed and all he could do was to lower his eyes as if trying to hide from Tony the soft blush which was rising on his cheeks. He hated how pale he was even if he’d never been the person to feel embarrassed easily. Apparently, Stark’s superpower was to the one to make him blush, though. And if the smirk on the smooth bastard’s face was something to go with, he was perfectly aware of that. “You’re not half bad yourself.” 

A blunt lie, Tony Stark was handsome, it didn’t matter what he wore. _Focus Strange, focus. Business lunch,_ He repeated himself over and over again. And yet, he was well aware that the kiss they shared back at the Compound changed everything. He couldn’t deny his feelings for him any longer, everyone saw how he behaved when Tony was around, and knowing that those feelings were mutual didn’t help him at all. It didn’t even help that the genius took one of his hands and kissed softly the scarred tissue, a soft smile over his lips. “Let’s go?”

“Let’s go,” It was a whisper while Stephen noticed that the other man didn’t let go of his hand. He tried not to notice that Tony ignored his shiny Audi and started to walk down the street. They reached a nice top-end restaurant not so far from the New York Sanctum. A nice place Stephen has seen while passing by a lot of times which reminded him of his previous life. While he would have ignored it any other times, he found nice that Stark went as far as looking for something around Stephen’s block. It was a small gesture, one most of the people wouldn’t even notice, but Stephen wasn’t most of the people so he smiled and the soft squeeze on his hand let him know that Tony exactly knew what that smile was for. 

Stephen almost dared to think about something like this to happen more often, just being with Tony and doing all the stuff he knew he couldn’t do anymore. It wasn’t for the money, not only, at least. It was about meaning meaningless. After he looked into Dormammu’s empty eyes, he knew that whatever could have happened was just a moment, something in which humans were too absorbed to notice the entirety of the multiverse around them. And yet, stupidly, he wished to have more of this. 

“Hey, you ok?” Tony’s voice reached him, and Stephen couldn’t help but smile and nod. “I hate doing this,” He continued. “But I need someone to speak with and…”

“It’s ok,” For one second, Stephen wondered what Tony was going to tell him, he knew the man well enough to not be able to make any kind of guess. “That’s why I am here.” 

“Ross called. The UN pressed the Government to recall the Rogues in. Apparently, they are still taking calls on former Shield missions and it’s getting frustrating for every police forcers to run after them, so they asked for them to be pardoned and sent back to New York. Specifically in the Compound.”

“I know,” Stephen was so tempted to whisper, but he knew far too well that it would have led to another discussion and the last thing Tony deserved now was all his friends turning his back at him. Natasha put him in a tricky position, but the Sorcerer was good enough in keeping secrets. “What did you say?”

“They didn’t leave me any choice,” Tony’s smile bent into a sad expression and Stephen reached for his hand across the table out of pure instinct. It was rewarded with another soft sad smile before whiskey brown eyes were raised on Stephen’s face. “I’d apparently have to host Rogers and friends in my house… And Natasha won’t be there. I mean… I know what leaked to the public was that she ran away with the other, but it’s not true. She’d actually…”

“I know,” This time, Stephen couldn’t help himself. She was his friend, sort of, and knowing that Tony didn’t blame her or consider her an enemy meant that he didn’t have to keep it secret. The confused glance on Tony’s eyes, though, demanded an explanation. “She’s the person who told me where to find you.”

“How do you know her?” Which was a totally legit question, but not one Stephen was sure he could answer. He ran a hand in his hair and then smiled. 

“If I tell you, I’d have to kill you and I rather prefer you to be alive,” He cracked a smile and Tony rolled his eyes to the ceiling but didn’t seem to want to investigate further. “Is there any way to help you?”

Tony’s face brightened as if he wasn’t expecting anything else. “Well, not that I really need help, I’ll have my suits with me and Vision, if he doesn’t elope with Wanda before, and Rhodey, and Peter, oh, you have to meet the kid… but, if you’re up for a round of the usual programming of Captain America is an idiot, you can come too.”

The soft smile which appeared on Tony’s face was full of hope. To the point where Stephen didn’t know what to do. He would have never imagined for the other man to ask him something like this. To move him with him, when whatever relationship they had going. Something that Stephen had no idea of how to call. He laughed and, a moment later, realized that Tony meant it for real. 

“Do you want me to move into the Compound with you?” He asked. Tony nodded. “I… I am flattered.”

“I know, maybe it’s a little bit early and we still have spoken this out, but I really thought I lost you, and I was afraid. I think I’ve never been so afraid in my life. I know that I had no right to do it, whatever we had between us it wasn’t really anything but meeting you again…”

“Tony,” Stephen could feel his own lips turning up and the blush spreading around his pale cheeks. “It has been the same, I wouldn’t have kissed you otherwise. I just, I’m not sure this is right, now. There’s nothing more I’d like to have than being with you, all day long but, after everything happened, to you, to me, after how I behaved, do you still feel the same? Would you be ok with me showing up at the Compound?”

Tony nodded. “This is the best thing that ever happened to me in the last couple of decades. And I’d understand if you have your secret cult and I’m not asking you to give it up to it, but I’d been extremely happy about you being around.”

“When will they arrive?” He asked, cracking a smirk.

“Couple of months if we don’t find a better place where to locate them.” Stephen nodded, trying to hide the fact that he already knew that much.

“Maybe I should start to move something to the Compound then. I can’t live there permanently, but I could always be a portal away.”

“Really?” When Stephen nodded, Tony couldn’t help but move over the table and plant a kiss against Stephen’s lips.


	7. Chapter 7

“Are they landing, Mr Stark?” Stephen turned to look at Spiderman, who rapidly knew was a teenager from the Queens named Peter Parker with an insane passion for Tony and couldn’t almost tell if the soft bouncing he was doing on the tips of his toes was because he was excited or angry at the one Captain America. 

Stephen knew that the kid met with some of the younger Sorcerers when Tony started to “take the place outside the MIddle-Ages, something that nobody but Stephen and Wong seemed to appreciate in Nepal. But, as Strange rapidly came to know, people don’t simply tell no to Tony Stark, and so Kamar-Taj was starting its transformation into one of the most subtle technological places in the world. 

Tony nodded, his hand reaching for Stephen’s while his fingers were brushing against the Arc Reactor firmly planted on his chest. They knew that very likely, nobody was going to make a move the day the Rogues’ pardons were finalized, but it was better to be safe than sorry and Tony didn’t want to take any chance, especially after knowing from unofficial ways that Bucky Barnes was in Wakanda. That betrayal stuck worse than Nat letting the two wonder-boys go back in Germany. Mostly because she took his side because, just like Tony, she knew it was the lesser evil. T’Challa, from what Stark told Stephen, was the one sure that Bucky was responsible for the previous king’s death. 

Either way, Stephen (and the Cloak with him) was ready to level whoever came too close to the man he loved. In the two months between their relationship started to build, firstly tentatively, and then, as they always did, in a constant rush. A part of Stephen was afraid that it could mean that it would have crashed soon, but another one was sure that it was just like everything else had always been between them. Reckless and perfect. 

“I’m tracking Fury’s car, they’ll be there in ten minutes. They made a detour to deliver Lang and Barton to their homes and then Rogers, Wilson and Maximoff will arrive,” Tony answered and Stephen couldn’t help but notice how his voice was slightly off when he pronounced Wanda’s name. He turned to look at the Sorcerer and the other man could see how he was trying to get any resemblance of comfort from Strange’s eyes. “Are you still sure about the Scarlet Witch? Viz, you too?”

“I think that having Wanda training with the Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj would be the best option. Her powers would be used for the good, then,” The Android answered. It had been Stephen’s idea after that Tony explained to him how neither Steve nor Sam was the main problem. He and Sam never really had any kind of relationship and he had a years-long training in ignoring bullshits, especially when they came from Steve Rogers’s mouth, but the way the Sokovian girl used her magic was what really concerned him. He didn’t even think about the fact that Strange was now one with magic when he confessed that much, and yet the solution presented itself. Wanda was going to be trained in Nepal until she would have been able to control her powers. They didn’t even need to explain to Ross about Kamar-Taj, considering that all the man wanted was to get rid of the World’s Most Wanted Criminals and go back to his agenda. 

“Yes, the Elders agreed that every magical practitioner must be trained, doesn’t matter how they received their powers,” A mischievous smile crossed Stephen’s lips. “And I made sure she got the most intensive course.” One which, hopefully, would have had her against Stephen’s students, the ones who were saltier about the entire Siberian ordeal. He wasn’t being childish, but if she got her powers from an Infinity Stone, Wanda would have been able to have the good hand over them, maybe. 

“You are terrible, bae,” Tony answered a more sincere smile on his lips now.

“If I were terrible, I would be the one responsible for her training and she wouldn’t like it.”

“Have I ever told you that I like the doctor, Tones?” Rhodes asked, and at that point, everyone, including a very confused Vision, was laughing even if it was clear that Peter was also having a mini internal debate about how good it was laughing at a show of merciless. Stephen let the hand which wasn’t in Tony’s one to reach the boy’s shoulder and squeezed it and that was enough for the teen to look up at him and the eyes of her mask to close. Stephen suspected that it meant that he was smiling at him but didn’t really put his mind into it because a black car stopped just in front of the Compound entrance.

The first person to get out of it was, as imaginable, Steve Rogers clad in a pair of illegally thigh jeans and a t-shirt which came straight out of a children size shelf. If that was the look he chose to try to be friendly, well, it just came out as trying to make a big show out of his incredibly disproportionate body. He moved closer to the group outside the Compound immediately recognizing the only person he didn’t know and promptly extending his hand to meet Stephen’s. 

“Steve Rogers, nice to meet you,” He said. Stephen didn’t even pretend to crack a smile, nodding to the Captain’s direction before introducing himself.

“Doctor Stephen Strange. You’ll address me as Dr Strange, Doctor or Dr Stephen Strange if you really have to. And as a general piece of advice, vibranium is the strongest metal in the world, which means that when applied pressure, it can go through every other metal, including titanium alloys and what’s underneath those,” Once Stephen finished to speak, both Steve’s hand and the cordial smile planted over his face shook imperceptibly and then fell. He tried a short chuckle and then moved on the side to reach Wilson and Wanda Maximoff. 

Sam immediately started to apologize with Rhodey and the two of them disappeared inside the Compound a moment later. Stephen was sure that the Colonel didn’t need any help with the other man considering that he seemed mortified enough while Wanda was looking uncertainty between Steve and Vision. 

In any other occasion, everything would have appeared extremely funny and entertaining, in that one, though, all Stephen was doing was waiting for everyone to speak. As suspected, Tony, forever the showman, moved one step forward in what seemed to be the land of no-one and addressed the two remaining Rogues with a PR smile. 

“I divided the Compound into two wings, the left-wing is Steve and Sam’s to go around freely,” He was speaking more with Fury and Ross that got out from the car after the small party they carried with them. Steve busied himself with taking travel bags out of the car while Wanda was still unsure about what to do. From what Tony told him about the young woman, that was the most dangerous mood to meet her in. “They’ll have all the rooms they can ask for, including a fully equipped kitchen, two gym rooms, an indoor pool and a large living room where they can meet people from the UN pre-approved list. Friday will monitor the common rooms and will provide for delivery services just like she does in the right-wing of the Compound and she used to in the Avengers Tower. There’s also a conference room where they’ll meet their lawyer to discuss the last notes in their pardons, I’ll provide them with a calendar with all the meetings that have already been scheduled and they’ll have a PA each selected from a pre-approved UN list of Stark Industries personnel.”

Stephen smiled at the last bit, paying attention than nobody noticed them. One of the first things asked the candidates was to read the Accords and blindly choose if they’d either or not approve them. The names sent to the UN for further background checks and the likes were all from the list of people who declared themselves in agreement with the Accords. That was Strange’s idea but, again, it wasn’t like they needed to know. “The two wings have rooms in common such as a larger living room and a theatre room. Mr Rogers and Mr Wilson will have to book the room 46 hours before using it if they’d like to. Friday will explain to them this part of the agreement once they’d settle.”

“And what about me?” Maximoff’s brain started to work because that was the question Stephen was waiting all along. 

Fury and Ross seemed to be extremely interested in that part too and Stephen couldn’t help but smirk. He was, at the end of the day, if possible, even more, theatrical than Tony, he just didn’t like to show it to the public just as much as the other man did. He moved one hand and opened a portal paying attention to do that much in the darkest corner of Kamar-Taj so that nobody could see what was waiting behind the golden circle. 

“As a magical user, Mrs Maximoff, you’ll be trained by my order. Dr Fury signed an NDA when he examined Tony and my proposal and you’ll be asked to do the same. You’ll be moved to a secondary location. Vision will be able to visit every time he’d like to but you won’t leave it until you’ll gain control of your powers. Once this will happen, the same rules Mr Stark listed for your friends will be applied to you as well and you’ll be able to move into the Compound,” He smiled and clapped his hands together as if proving it to be final and with his perfect timing, Wong walked through the portal and smiled at the people gathered on the other side of it before focusing completely on Wanda. 

“Miss Maximoff, if you’d like to follow me, your lawyer aways,” If Stephen had to take a hot guess, the last thing Wanda wanted to do was to follow a stranger through a portal to a place she didn’t know, but it wasn’t like she had any other option so she nodded, took her bag and stepped through it. Vision followed a moment later just like Stephen suspected. He didn’t care if anything the android would have helped the Scarlet Witch to understand better what Kamar-Taj was. Steve didn’t seem so happy about it but all he could do was pouting and walking inside the Compound followed by Peter a moment later. Ross was already inside of the car once again.

But what surprised Stephen was Fury walking closer to the two of them. “Stark, Strange, will this be good?” He asked.

“The best we could think about,” Tony answered before turning to look at Stephen. “With the best partner in crime as possible.”

Stephen laughed and then looked over the shoulders of the Shield director. “We are good, but you should tell General Ross to stop hunting down Agent Romanoff, she did nothing wrong.”

And without even taking in Fury’s surprised expression, he took Tony’s hand and dragged him into a portal to Stark’s room inside of the Compound. “ Was that really necessary?” He asked.

“She gave us a second chance, so yes.” Tony’s laugh covered whatever sentence came after, but it didn’t matter when the man wrapped an arm around his neck and dragged him down in a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> I love k&c (kudos and comments) so let me know what you think about this fic =)
> 
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